Just 17 years after the fanfare of their re-opening two of Scotland’s major canals could close and revert to their stagnant full-of-rubbish condition due to a lack of use. An Asset Management Strategy published on 21st June by Scottish Canals, says the Forth & Clyde and Union canals, restored in 2001 at a cost of £80m after decades of closure, could soon close again.
However sections of the canals are often closed due to bridges being deemed unsafe – three bridges that open to let boats through on the Forth & Clyde are out of action because of safety concerns; Scottish Canals says it has insufficient funds to repair them. So cruisers have found it increasingly difficult to plan a passage.
The two canals were restored as a Millennium project, with funding from the Millennium Commission, European Regional Development Fund, Scottish Enterprise and local authorities. The Millennium and European grants include conditions that the canals must be maintained to cruising standard for up to 25 years.
As recently as 2011 the Scottish Government re-classified the Lowland Canals as Cruising Waterways, thus placing a statutory duty on the Board to maintain them for cruising vessels, in order to protect the investment made in restoring them.
Scottish Canals argues that the coast to coast route is not being used sufficiently to justify it being kept open, but the lack of dredging and poor maintenance – together with recent closures and restrictions – will have contributed to a reduction in use. In our view the level of use should not be a significant factor in whether or not a waterway is kept open, as a vibrant waterway is kept alive by boats using it, and this in turn brings benefits in terms of improved health and wellbeing for the local population, as well as income through recreation, tourism and regeneration.
Scottish Canals should be doing everything it can to keep the Lowland Canals fully open, and this should include using some of the revenue raised from their property and tourism investments, which is currently not being spent on the core function of maintaining the waterways, despite an expectation from the Scottish Government that it should do so.
Photo: the Falkirk Wheel was described as an engineering triumph when it was opened in 2001. It scoops up watercraft to align them with the canal rather than using a traditional lock system.